Fayette has state’s lowest new Covid rate, highest vaccination percentage

Fayette shines on Georgia’s Covid map Aug. 10 as one of only two counties in the state with Covid infection rates lower than 5%.

With a 2-week infection rate of 3.1%, another way of saying that is that Fayette residents are remaining Covid-free at a higher rate than anywhere else in Georgia.

Fayette also leads the state in vaccination rates with 53% of the county’s population fully vaccinated, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

But the delta variant is pushing new case humbers across the state to levels not seen since the January 2021 surge. Fayette’s daily numbers are rising also with 27 new cases reported on Tuesday, DPH graphs showed.

Piedmont Fayette Hospital Tuesday remains on full diversion alert Aug. 10, and it kept its “severe” rating with its emergency department listed as “severely overcrowded” as of 5:07 p.m. Tuesday.

Fayette’s 2-week positive Covid test rate rose slightly to 3.1% Aug. 10, still the lowest in the state. The only other county is Georgia with a 2-week rate under 5% is Jefferson County, just south of Augusta.

Here are the numbers:

Fayette has registered 7,259 Covid cases since the start of the pandemic, 163 fatalities and 334 hospital admissions, DPH reported. Since Aug. 2, 11 Fayette residents have been hospitalized for treatment of Covid. The county’s 2-week number of cases rose to 282.

Statewide, 968,167 cases have been reported, an increase of 4,365 over the Monday total.

Statewide, Covid fatalities went up 25 to 18,881, and hospitalizations rose 210 to 68,266 total for the pandemic. ICU admissions went up 25 over the Monday number.

DPH reports that 59,252 Fayette residents are fully vaccinated, which is 53% of the county’s population.

Meanwhile, hospitals are getting slammed, with units in Clayton, Coweta, Henry and several in Fulton counties listed as in “severe” status. Spalding County, to the south, is listed as “Overcrowded” with an ER diversion, according to the Georgia Coordinating Center chart.